Sam

[DeltAlum]

I suspect this will be an unpopular post.

Whenever something like this happens, there are almost always two things you hear.

The first is what a fine person somebody was, and the second is how crude and uncaring journalists are.

Sometimes both are true. Sometimes one or the other is. Sometimes neither.

My guess is that the only way to resolve this is to take competition totally out of journalism.

How do you do that? I don't know, maybe have it controlled by the government. Good idea? I don't think so. A "Free Press" was considered by our founders to be necessary to a democracy.

So, are journalists all jerks? Well, I don't think so, but some certainly are. But it's also important to consider the other side of the equation which is that in cases like this, a persons very first exposure to the media is at a time when his or her emotions are at their highest. I don't think that most reporters are really anxious to add to the emotional burden in a crisis -- but I'm not sure what they can do not to.

It's very tough, but the same person who has to be interviewed in one case is likely to be anxious to get all of the details of other stories -- and turn to the media expecting the information to be there.

It's really a very tough position for all involved.